Robert Carr Fund/Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition

Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition is a regional coalition of over forty (40) grassroots civil society organizations and community activists working with inadequately serviced populations (ISPs), who are especially vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, and who are often restricted in their access to justice and health care services. CVC’s beneficiaries include people living with HIV, sex workers, women and girls who are ISP, youth who are ISP, migrants who are ISP, incarcerated persons, lesbian, gay, bisexual, MSM, and transgender persons.

 

Grantee type:
Regional
Grant:
$598,500
Grant period:
2016-2018
Lead organization:
Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC)

 

  • In the Caribbean as of 2017, an estimated 310,000 people were living with HIV with an additional 15,000 people contracting the virus each year. Key populations and their sexual partners represent two thirds of all new HIV infections in the region.
  • As of 2017, 84,000 (27%) of the 310,000 people living with HIV had not been diagnosed, 129,000 (43%) had not accessed HIV treatment, and 186,000 (60%) had not achieved sustained viral suppression. Fewer than 500 people were likely accessing PrEP.
  • Key populations throughout the Caribbean report lack of confidentiality, high stigma and discrimination, and limited access for basic health services such as HIV testing, STI screening and treatment, and mental health and addictions counselling. Key populations in all Caribbean countries also report social and economic exclusion, including rejections by family and local communities and discrimination in employment and education, and very high rates of interpersonal violence, gender-based violence and sexual violence.
  • Most Caribbean countries have laws and policies that impede efforts to prevent and treat HIV among key populations. These include laws that criminalize sex work, criminalize sexual acts in private between consenting male adults, criminalize drug use and possession and restrict provision of services without parental consent to adolescents younger than 16 years of age.
  • People in inadequately served populations (ISPs) such as people who are LGBTQ, sex workers, drug users or adolescents have important direct experience of HIV-related health needs and barriers to health services. The capacity of networks of inadequately served populations (ISPs) to organize and advocate is central to efforts to improve human rights environments, improve HIV service accessibility, and improve efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of national and international funding for health and human rights.

 

RCF funding 2016-2018

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition received US$ 599,000 in funding from the Robert Carr Fund during 2016-2018, which was a continuation of steady RCF funding support for CVC since 2012. This funding was allocated to both core and strategic program costs, investing in CVC’s organizational capacity and CVC’s convening of collective action across the Caribbean. In 2019, the Robert Carr Fund awarded CVC an additional US$ 560,000 in funding for continuation and expansion of its work.

 

Geographic coverage

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition is a regional network convening and supporting over 40 organizations and individuals in all countries and territories of the Caribbean.

 

Population coverage

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition supports the empowerment, leadership, health and rights of people living with HIV, sex workers, women and girls who are ISP, youth who are ISP, migrants who are ISP, incarcerated persons, lesbian women, gay and bisexual and other MSM, and transgender persons.

 

Activities 2016-2018

With RCF funding in 2016-2018, the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition provided capacity assessments, trainings and support for local community organizations in countries such as Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, and supported the organizing of a new United Caribbean Trans Network (UC Trans). CVC also launched a human rights violations “Shared Incident Database” involving 34 community organizations in eleven countries, rapidly documenting over 2000 incidents for potential pro bono legal assistance and generating data for country reports and advocacy. CVC also sponsored community education, advocacy and media work to advance human rights through the Caribbean, including community education related to high-profile legal cases in Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad, and a regional “Do You Dare” campaign that challenged politicians and leaders to publicly support human rights for all.

 

Results 2016-2018

Sustained support from RCF and other funders since 2012 has helped CVC to build its organizational strength and influence and to support steady advancements in human rights.

  • Network strength and influence: With steady building of capacity since its founding in 2004, CVC now operates with 14 staff, has multiyear funding from the Global Fund, European Union and several foundations, is governed by a Board of advocates from eight countries, and has strong partnerships with other regional networks such as CariFLAGS, CRN+ (the Caribbean Network of People Living with HIV), CSWC (the Caribbean Sex Worker Coalition), and UC Trans (United Caribbean Trans Network). Sustained coalition work among these networks is helping to unify country-level activists from different ISPs for collaborative advocacy for human rights and access to services.
  • Human rights:  CVC’s steady work in community organizing, legal action, media work and political advocacy has helped to build a vibrant dialogue and potential for rapid improvements in human rights environments in the Caribbean. As evidence of the impact of this work: during 2016-2018, after a decade of work sponsored by CVC and others, the High Courts of Belize and Trinidad and Tobago struck down national laws criminalizing same-sex sexual intimacy, and the Caribbean Court of Justice struck down a vagrancy law of Guyana that made cross-dressing in public an offence.